Podcast Episodes

Tiger Tamer | 2. sail, steam & stormy seas

Episode 1916

What was it like to sail the high seas in the Victorian age? In the second episode in our new series on Bob Carlisle, a widely forgotten but larger-than-life character of the 19th century, David Musg…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

The EU: from Maastricht to Brexit

Episode 1915

From Maastricht to Brexit, the European Union's first three decades have entailed plenty of political and economic drama. Danny Bird speaks to Dermot Hodson about his new book, Circle of Stars, which…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

Rudyard Kipling: life of the week

Episode 1914

Rudyard Kipling is beloved by many for his children's books and inspirational poems. But he was also called the "Bard of Empire", known for writing The White Man's Burden. For today's Life of the Wee…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

Winthrop Bell: a Canadian spy who predicted Nazi horrors

Episode 1913

In his public life, Dr Winthrop Bell was a Harvard professor and wealthy businessman. But as a secret agent, reporting from Germany in the aftermath of the First World War, he was one of the first to…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

Arts & Crafts movement: everything you wanted to know

Episode 1912

What was the Arts and Crafts movement? How far was it associated with radical politics? And is it alive and well today? The Victorian cultural movement was transformative in our understanding of the …

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

Stonewall: the 1969 fight for gay rights

To mark LGBT+ history month, we're revisiting a classic episode on a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history. Speaking to Matt Elton in 2019, historian Chris Parkes explored the background to the 1969 Stone…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

The Chinese migrants chasing an American dream

Episode 1911

What led two teenagers from Canton province in China to emigrate to California in the late 19th-century? And what lives awaited them on America's west coast? Speaking to Elinor Evans, Hugo Wong discu…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

The Tiger Tamer who went to sea | Trailer

The Tiger Tamer who went to sea, from HistoryExtra, is the story of one remarkable Victorian man who lived the life of a dozen men.

His adventures as a global seafarer and as a circus clown, showman a…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

Tiger Tamer | 1. “the life of a dozen men”

Episode 1910

Bob Carlisle was a Victorian influencer and minor celebrity; a global seafarer, circus clown and lion tamer, and Britain’s original long-distance ‘wheelbarrow pedestrian’. This new six-part series se…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

The Britons who rebuilt postwar Germany

Episode 1909

Daniel Cowling talks to Spencer Mizen about the British occupation of Germany from 1945-49, and describes how the young officials tasked with rebuilding a broken nation navigated acute privation, a t…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago